Thursday, February 05, 2009

Last Monday, most of Britain was covered in what has been touted as the heaviest snowfall in 20 years. Most of the London public transport ground to a halt, as it's already fragile transport system couldn't cope with what they claimed were "adverse weather conditions", even though Paris and Italy, who were hit with the same amount of snow didn't even bat an eyelid. It's amazing that such a progressive city like London can be halted by a foot of snow, especially when so many other places seem to manage just fine despite getting larger snowfalls than we do here.

But what these supposed adverse weather conditions did bring was a chance for most of Britain to have the day off work and school. All my routes to work had been suspended by the morning and even if I had decided to hoof it work, I wasn't sure how I was going to make it back home in one piece. And I already had a slight taste of the temperamental nature of the London tubes, especially the District Line, when trains were delayed because of leaves on the track! Not sure what kind of leaves these were, but I was envisioning giant killer leaves with sharp tendrils and a cantankerous disposition. So the only thing left to do that day was to call it a snow day and make the most out of London being turned into a winter wonderland.

So we trudged out into the white expanse and made a snowman, got into a few few snow fights and most of all just frolicked like we were 10 again. There's nothing like snow to bring the kid out of anyone. People were out and about despite the cold, strangers were smiling and talking to each other, which in a city, is almost as rare as the abominable snowman, and people were snapping away at every possible angle like giddy tourists. When you see normally nonchalant Londoners taking photos, then you know this isn't something that happens everyday.